


Graduate

by hellesea



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:21:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26481838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellesea/pseuds/hellesea
Summary: Kwon Soonyoung and Lee Jihoon are lifelong best friends who went off to America together for college with dreams of starting careers in the biggest entertainment industry in the world. As students at Nashville’s Vanderbilt University, the pair have spent the past four years adjusting to the culture shock of their new life while pursuing their passions. As a result of their hard work and natural talent, Soonyoung captured the attention of Millennium dance company’s NYC studio manager, while Jihoon’s impressive songwriting portfolio earned him a job offer from Epic Records in LA. Now that graduation is quickly approaching, the pair have to come to terms with their impending separation, and the fear of moving on to much bigger cities without the support and companionship they’ve depended on for so many years.





	Graduate

“Son of a bitch-“ Jihoon grumbled, tossing a large cardboard box onto the floor beside him. 

“What’s wrong,” Soonyoung mumbled through a mouthful of cereal, sleepily wandering into the living room with his breakfast in hand. 

“My keyboard won’t fit in the box,” Jihoon sighed, rubbing his eyes in frustration. “It’s going to cost a fortune to ship this thing to LA.” 

Soonyoung slumped into the couch, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. 

“Why don’t you just sell it,” he suggested, his thought interrupted by a yawn. “You can buy a new one when you get there.”

“Sell it?” Jihoon scoffed, crossing his arms. He avoided eye contact with his best friend, instead staring intently at the oversized Yamaha digital piano he’d bought freshman year. “I can’t sell my keyboard, I need it.” He sat on the floor with a dejected sigh. 

“I mean just buy a new one bro,” Soonyoung shrugged, setting his empty cereal bowl on the coffee table. 

“Just buy a new one,” Jihoon repeated. “It’s not that easy BRO.” His sarcastic tone caught Soonyoung off guard. 

“I NEED my keyboard,” Jihoon continued, “how do you expect me to just go all the way to LA without my fucking keyboard?” 

Soonyoung’s eyes widened, watching his generally stoic best friend suddenly blinking back tears. 

“Hey,” Soonyoung called out softly, waiting for Jihoon to finally make eye contact. “You’re gonna be fine.” 

Jihoon blinked hard then broke eye contact to rub his eyes again. 

“I just have to get a bigger box,” he muttered, pushing himself to his knees and then standing. 

“I’ll stop and get one on my way home from work,” Soonyoung promised. Jihoon nodded in thanks and shuffled back to his bedroom, closing the door behind him. 

Once he was alone in his room, Jihoon silently let go of the tears he had fought back, trying to busy himself with packing his other belongings. Everything he could carry on the plane was stacked in a neat pile beside his desk. On the other side of the room he’d packed some less essential items and things too big to big for a suitcase into shipping boxes. 

As Jihoon anxiously paced across his bedroom floor lost in thought, he heard a soft knock on the door and took a deep breath, composing himself before opening it and immediately turning back to sit on the edge of his bed. Soonyoung leaned on the door frame, examining Jihoon’s face. He knew Jihoon better than anyone, and had noticed how stressed he’d been for the past few days as they prepared for graduation and their departure from Nashville to go on to their new jobs in LA and NYC, respectively. Soonyoung had been feeling anxious as well, but couldn’t bear to think of his own feelings knowing that Jihoon was so miserable. For the past 18 years he had always leaned on Jihoon during hard times. Jihoon had been his anchor through every phase and event in his life, and the only person who could have convinced him to move to America to follow his dreams. Soonyoung felt like he owed everything good in his life to Jihoon’s unwavering support and friendship, and the anxiety over the fact that in a couple short weeks they would be on opposite sides of an enormous country was only overshadowed by the heartbreak of knowing that Jihoon was just as anxious. 

“Why don’t we go out tonight,” Soonyoung suggested from the doorway. “Just try to take our mind off everything for a little while.” 

Jihoon looked up at him with a thoughtful expression before quickly nodding in agreement.

“Just text me when you’re on your way home from work,” he replied, his voice catching in his throat. Soonyoung nodded and turned to go back to his own bedroom, closing Jihoon’s door behind him. 

Six months after arriving in Nashville, Soonyoung had decided he needed a public job to help improve his English speaking skills. He and Jihoon had initially accepted work study positions tutoring Korean speaking students, but Soonyoung wanted to step out of his comfort zone and thought working outside the university would help him adjust and adapt to American life more quickly, so at the suggestion of a classmate he had applied to nearby restaurants and spent the past three and a half years working as a server at Mellow Mushroom. It was the first thing he’d done without Jihoon since they were five years old, and became a source of pride for him as his English had improved exponentially in his time working with the public. His bright and funny personality made him a popular server and a beloved coworker, and he was genuinely sad to be coming to the end of his time working there. 

The mood in the restaurant reflected his own, as his coworkers were just as sad to see him go. Soonyoung went about the start of his shift lost in his own thoughts, and was caught off guard when he walked to the back of the house and found his friend Brittany waiting for him with a small cake. 

“Aww no,” he groaned playfully, an involuntary grin spreading across his face. “You didn’t have to do this.” Brittany giggled, moving closer to Soonyoung to slide her arm around his waist. Soonyoung quickly wrapped his own arm around her shoulders and squeezed her in a half hug.

“Today is my last shift with you,” Brittany said, her voice dropping into a somber tone. “I wanted to do something special.” Soonyoung sighed, pulling her closer and wrapping both arms around her in a tight hug. 

“I’m really gonna miss you,” he murmured. Brittany pulled herself out of his arms, shaking her head. 

“Nope, no,” she said, turning back to the cake. “We can’t be getting emotional right before the lunch rush.” Soonyoung laughed softly and accepted the piece of cake she handed him.

“Thanks, Brit,” he said through a mouthful of cake.

“Just don’t forget us little people here in Nashville when you’re a famous dancer,” Brittany warned, shaking her fork in his direction. Soonyoung laughed, nearly choking on a bite of cake. 

“There’s an idea, Brit,” their manager, Matt, called out as he walked by them on his way to the office. “He can’t go up north if he chokes to death on a cake first.” Brittany laughed, setting down her own plate and stepping over to the drink station, quickly turning around with a glass of water for Soonyoung. 

The work day passed the same as any other, but the underlying sadness was almost tangible. By the end of his shift, Soonyoung almost wanted to tell Matt he wasn’t coming for his last two, because the thought of working his last two days without Brittany seemed too lonely. Before clocking out he looked for her and found her sitting alone in a corner booth, rolling silverware. 

“Are you almost done?” Soonyoung asked, sliding into the booth across from her. Brittany looked up, startled, and reached up to take out her earbuds, which had been hidden by her hair. Soonyoung pretended not to notice the tears that clung to her eyelashes. 

“Yeah my last table just left so I just have to finish this and I can clock out,” Brittany replied, busying herself with the silverware to avoid eye contact. Soonyoung reached across the table and took her hand, gently squeezing it. 

“Are you doing anything tonight?” He asked.

“No,” Brittany replied a little too quickly, instantly meeting Soonyoung’s eyes and then looking away again. Soonyoung fought a grin. 

“Jihoon and I are going out, you should come meet up,” he suggested. Brittany nodded, meeting Soonyoung’s gaze with a shy smile. 

“Yeah that would be cool,” she said. “I’d like to hang out before you leave town.” Soonyoung squeezed her hand again, sliding back out of the booth. 

“I’ll text you after I get home and take a shower,” he promised before turning to leave.


End file.
